A 63-year-old man from Birzebbuga was remanded in custody today after he pleaded not guilty to trying to kill a Somali at the his flat in Triq l-Ghannejja, Birzebbuga, on Wednesday.

Antonio Sultana was also charged with carrying a firearm and damaging Abdulaziz Abdikadir Hasan’s property.

Magistrate Carole Peralta told the accused, who was accompanied by neighbours, that he understood the problems he was going through, namely that his wife was terminally ill in hospital and was completely dependent on him.

At this point Mr Sultana asked to speak and said that he could not quite believe he was being charged with attempted murder because he never meant to hurt Mr Hasan.He said that he was having dinner at Mr Hasan’s house and showed him his gun, which he fired to prove it worked.

But police inspector Kevin Pulis told the court that this was only half the story and that Mr Sultana had told the police in his statement that he “did not trust black people”.

Had it really been an accident he would not have charged Mr Sultana with involuntary homicide but the fact that the victim ran out of the apartment and a second shot was fired pointed in the opposite direction.

The magistrate remanded Mr Sultana in custody but sent a recommendation to the prison director to allow him out, accompanied by a warder or policeman, for an hour every day to visit his wife.